LEARNING GUIDE # 01

Module Title: - Contributing to the

Development of Strategic Plan

MODULE CODE: ICT DBA4 01 0411

SYMBOLS
These symbols are located at the left margin of the module. These illustrate the actions that should be
taken or resource to be used at a particular stage in the module.

LO Learning
Outcome Self-Check

Answer Key
Resources

Reading Assessment
Activity

Remember/Tips
Use Computer

Practice Task Safety

 LO
1. Plan for strategy
2. Investigate the current environment
3. Participate in feedback session
4. Finalize and validate plan

UNDERSTANDING STRATEGIC PLANNING

Introduction
What is Strategic Planning?
Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making
decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy.
There Are Various Different Views and Models -- and the Process You Use Dependsstrategic
planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it's going to
get there and how it'll know if it got there or not. The focus of a strategic plan is usually on the
entire organization, while the focus of a business plan is usually on a particular product, service
or program.

There are a variety of perspectives, models and approaches used in strategic planning. The way
that a strategic plan is developed depends on the nature of the organization's leadership, culture
of the organization, complexity of the organization's environment, size of the organization,
expertise of planners, etc. For example, there are a variety of strategic planning models,
including goals-based, issues-based, organic, scenario (some would assert that scenario
planning is more of a technique than model), etc.

1. Goals-based planning is probably the most common and starts with focus on the
organization's mission (and vision and/or values), goals to work toward the mission,
strategies to achieve the goals, and action planning (who will do what and by when).
 2. Issues-based strategic planning often starts by examining issues facing the
organization, strategies to address those issues and action plans.
3. Organic strategic planning might start by articulating the organization's vision and
values, and then action plans to achieve the vision while adhering to those values. Some
planners prefer a particular approach to planning, eg, appreciative inquiry.

Some plans are scoped to one year, many to three years, and some to five to ten years into the
future. Some plans include only top-level information and no action plans. Some plans are five to
eight pages long, while others can be considerably longer.

Quite often, an organization's strategic planners already know much of what will go into a
strategic plan (this is true for business planning, too). However, development of the strategic
plan greatly helps to clarify the organization's plans and ensure that key leaders are all "on the
same script". Far more important than the strategic plan document, is the strategic planning
process itself.

Also, in addition to the size of the organization, differences in how organizations carry out the
planning activities are more of a matter of the nature of the participants in the organization --
than its for-profit/nonprofit status. For example, detail-oriented people may prefer a linear, top-
down, general-to-specific approach to planning. On the other hand, rather artistic and highly
reflective people may favor of a highly divergent and "organic" approach to planning.

"Strategic planning is the PROCESS by which the GUIDING MEMBERS of an organization

ENVISION its future and develop the necessary PROCEDURES AND OPERATIONS to
achieve that future"

Strategy is nothing but a planning, coordination, execution.

The word strategy has military connotations, because it derives from Greek word of general. A
Strategy is a plan designed to achieve a goal. In every field like game, business we should have
strategy without strategy we can't do anything.

Strategy is different from tactics. All the company should have a strategy to achieve the goal and
survive in the market and to fulfill the expectation of stakeholder (one who interest or affect in
the business). Stakeholder involves owners, managers, shareholder, creditors, customers,
employees, suppliers, government, local community etc.

The Strategic Planning Process

In today's highly competitive business environment, budget-oriented planning or forecast-based

planning methods are insufficient for a large corporation to survive and prosper. The firm must
engage in strategic planning that clearly defines objectives and assesses both the internal and
external situation to formulate strategy, implement the strategy, evaluate the progress, and make
adjustments as necessary to stay on track.

A simplified view of the strategic planning process is shown by the following diagram:
Mission and Objectives

The mission statement describes the company's business vision, including the unchanging values
and purpose of the firm and forward-looking visionary goals that guide the pursuit of future
opportunities.

Guided by the business vision, the firm's leaders can define measurable financial and strategic
objectives. Financial objectives involve measures such as sales targets and earnings growth.
Strategic objectives are related to the firm's business position, and may include measures such as
market share and reputation.

Environmental Scan

The environmental scan includes the following components:

1. Internal analysis of the firm

2. Analysis of the firm's industry (task environment)
3. External macro environment (PEST analysis)

The internal analysis can identify the firm's strengths and weaknesses and the external analysis
reveals opportunities and threats. A profile of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats is generated by means of a SWOT analysis

An industry analysis can be performed using a framework developed by Michael Porter known
as Porter's five forces. This framework evaluates entry barriers, suppliers, customers, substitute
products, and industry rivalry.

Strategy Formulation

Given the information from the environmental scan, the firm should match its strengths to the
opportunities that it has identified, while addressing its weaknesses and external threats.
To attain superior profitability, the firm seeks to develop a competitive advantage over its rivals.
A competitive advantage can be based on cost or differentiation. Michael Porter identified three
industry-independent generic strategies from which the firm can choose.

Strategy Implementation

The selected strategy is implemented by means of programs, budgets, and procedures.

Implementation involves organization of the firm's resources and motivation of the staff to
achieve objectives.

The way in which the strategy is implemented can have a significant impact on whether it will be
successful. In a large company, those who implement the strategy likely will be different people
from those who formulated it. For this reason, care must be taken to communicate the strategy
and the reasoning behind it. Otherwise, the implementation might not succeed if the strategy is
misunderstood or if lower-level managers resist its implementation because they do not
understand why the particular strategy was selected.

Evaluation & Control

The implementation of the strategy must be monitored and adjustments made as needed.

Evaluation and control consists of the following steps:

1. Define parameters to be measured

2. Define target values for those parameters
3. Perform measurements
4. Compare measured results to the pre-defined standard
5. Make necessary changes

Three level of strategy are

1. corporate strategy,
2. competitive or business strategy,
3. Operational or functional strategy.
For perfect strategy planning we have to work in business ethics. All the staffs, manager, strategy
maker have to work in organize way to achieve the goal and fulfill the expectation of
stakeholders. Planner or strategy maker have skill to realize the competition in the market and
make the plan or strategy which is easily to understand by everyone and it is new and fresh that
surprise the competitor. Planner should improve their service of his mission to get more profit.
Planner also knows the present and future aspects of this mission. The planner has also think
about the distribution and sale facility of its mission. Strategy are making in ethical ways that it
does not affect the moral values and culture of the people, employer and society. Strategy is
making by consider all the factors like legislation, geographic, financial, social and political that
affecting business. Strategy is making in such a way that, it will always success and fulfill the
expectation of the stakeholder. Strategy planning is to bring together, think and execute in ethical
way.

Analysis
What is long term strategic planning process?
Why it is direction and scope of organization?

The strategy is direction and scope of business. This will give an effective environment to work
in coordinate or together. For An effective approach of planning to achieve first organization is
clear of mission or goal the, strategy maker and managers who make the strategy they should
follow certain steps which are in circular form and action steps. The first step is to think or
initiate the mission or goal and then agree on that mission by readiness assessment plan for
planning and they also have business knowledge. They also have to consider the sales target and
all the financial aspects. This project is profitable or not in sort they have to measures the
earnings growth. Then the planner or manager or strategy maker should think that what is the
requirement and expectation of these projects. This is an must thing or mandatory thing that
strategy maker have to think they must know the various requirement such as raw material, land,
restriction such as government policies legislation, government policies, wars and conflicts etc
,expectation such as earning growth, sales target fulfill the requirement of stake holder and
constraints faces. Strategy maker should also know the broadcast sense. So we have to know
how to deal with the media. Clarify this all steps again what is the purposes by stakeholder. In
tandem to the mission and objective the strategy maker must analyze the environmental
scanning.

The environmental scanning contains three components stated as:

1. Internal analysis of the organization such as SWOT analysis
2. Analysis of the firm's industry (task environment)
3. External macro environment (PEST analysis)
External microenvironments are explained by the PEST analysis. Pest means political,
economical, social, technology factors that influence the business. Pest is factor which is useful
tool or responsible for market high or low, reputation, direction for a business. Pest is also
known acronymic as step; this step is taken by all the organization to avoid all threats and
success in the market.

In political factors involves ecological, environmental, all type legislation or law(future, current,
international), regulatory bodies and processes, government policies, government term and
change, trading policies, funding, grants and initiatives, home market pressure- groups,
international pressure- groups, wars and conflicts.

Economic factors are Size/growths, inflation rates, exchange rates, income, international trade
and monetary policy, unemployment, fiscal policy, general taxation, overseas economies
specific, industry factors, market routes trends, distribution trends.
Social factors are lifestyle in an area, demographics (age, sex, geography), Consumer behavior
and opinions, media views for brand, company, technology image consumer buying patterns,
fashion and role models, ethical issues, culture, value, ethical factors, religious factor and
marketing and publicity.

Technological factors are competing technology development, research funding, associated and
dependent technologies, maturity of technology, manufacturing maturity and capacity, good
information and communications exchange, consumer buying mechanisms and technology,
technology legislation, innovation potential, technology access, licensing, patents, intellectual
property issues and global communications.
Internal analysis is done by SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis is strength, weakness,
opportunities, threats.

A SWOT analysis measures a business unit while a PEST analysis measures a market. SWOT
analysis is done by an idea and preposition. A SWOT analysis is the personal evaluation of the
firm which helps in making decision, understanding, presentation, discussion and decision
making. It is an idea decision making, preposition, method and option.

Strategic Vision Statement

What is a vision?
Vision statement provides direction and inspiration for organizational goal setting.
Vision is where you see yourself at the end of the horizon OR milestone therein. It is a single
statement dream OR aspiration. Typically a vision has the flavors of 'Being Most admired',
'Among the top league', 'Being known for innovation', 'being largest and greatest' and so on.
Typically 'most profitable', 'Cheapest' etc. don’t figure in vision statement. Unlike goals, vision is
not SMART. It does not have mathematics OR timelines attached to it.
Vision is a symbol, and a cause to which we want to bond the stakeholders, (mostly employees
and sometime share-holders). As they say, the people work best, when they are working for a
cause, than for a goal. Vision provides them that cause.
Vision is long-term statement and typically generic & grand. Therefore a vision statement does
not change unless the company is getting into a totally different kind of business.

Vision should never carry the 'how' part of vision. For example ' To be the most admired brand
in Aviation Industry' is a fine vision statement, which can be spoiled by extending it to' To be the
most admired brand in the Aviation Industry by providing world-class in-flight services'. The
reason for not including 'how' is that 'how' may keep on changing with time.

Challenges related to Vision Statement:

Putting-up a vision is not a challenge. The problem is to make employees engaged with it. Many
a time, terms like vision, mission and strategy become more a subject of scorn than being looked
up-to. This is primarily because leaders may not be able to make a connect between the
vision/mission and people’s every day work. Too often, employees see a gap between the vision,
mission and their goals & priorities. Even if there is a valid/tactical reason for this miss-match, it
is not explained.

Horizon of Vision:

Vision should be the horizon of 5-10 years. If it is less than that, it becomes tactical. If it is of a
horizon of 20+ years (say), it becomes difficult for the strategy to relate to the vision.
Features of a good vision statement:
 Easy to read and understand.
 Compact and Crisp to leave something to people’s imagination.
 Gives the destination and not the road-map.
 Is meaningful and not too open ended and far-fetched.
 Excite people and make them get goose-bumps.
 Provides a motivating force, even in hard times.
Is perceived as achievable and at the same time is challenging and compelling, stretching us
beyond what is comfortable.

Vision is a dream/aspiration, fine-tuned to reality:

The Entire process starting from Vision down to the business objectives, is highly iterative. The
question is from where should we start. We strongly recommend that vision and mission
statement should be made first without being colored by constraints, capabilities and
environment. This can said akin to the vision of armed forces, that’s 'Safe and Secure country
from external threats'. This vision is a non-negotiable and it drives the organization to find ways
and means to achieve their vision, by overcoming constraints on capabilities and resources.
Vision should be a stake in the ground, a position, a dream, which should be prudent, but should
be non-negotiable barring few rare circumstances.

Mission Statement
What is a mission?
Mission of an organization is the purpose for which the organization is. Mission is again a single
statement, and carries the statement in verb. Mission in one way is the road to achieve the vision.
For example, for a luxury products company, the vision could be 'To be among most admired
luxury brands in the world' and mission could be 'To add style to the lives'

A good mission statement will be:

 Clear and Crisp: While there are different views, We strongly recommend that mission
should only provide what, and not 'how and when'. We would prefer the mission of
'Making People meet their career' to 'Making people meet their career through effective
career counseling and education'. A mission statement without 'how & when' element
leaves a creative space with the organization to enable them take-up wider strategic
choices.
 Have to have a very visible linkage to the business goals and strategy: For example you
cannot have a mission (for a home furnishing company) of 'Bringing Style to People’s
lives' while your strategy asks for mass product and selling. It’s better that either you start
selling high-end products to high value customers, OR change your mission statement to
'Help people build homes'.
 Should not be same as the mission of a competing organization. It should touch upon how
its purpose it unique.

Mission follows the Vision:

The Entire process starting from Vision down to the business objectives, is highly iterative. The
question is from where should be start. I strongly recommend that mission should follow the
vision. This is because the purpose of the organization could change to achieve their vision.
For example to achieve the vision of an Insurance company 'To be the most trusted Insurance
Company', the mission could be first 'making people financially secure' as their emphasis is on
Traditional Insurance product. At a later stage the company can make its mission as 'Making
money work for the people' when they also include the non-traditional unit linked investment
products.

Strategic objective
A broadly defined objective that an organization must achieve to make its strategy succeed.
Strategic objectives are, in general, externally focused and fall into eight major classifications:
(1) Market standing: desired share of the present and new markets;
(2) Innovation: development of new goods and services, and of skills and methods
required to supply them;
(3) Humanresources: selection and development of employees;
(4) Financialresources: identification of the sources of capital and their use;
(5) Physicalresources: equipment and facilities and their use;
(6) Productivity: efficient use of the resources relative to the output;
(7) Socialresponsibility: awareness and responsiveness to the effects on the wider
community of the stakeholders;
(8) Profitrequirements: achievement of measurable financial well-being and growth.

For-Profit Versus Nonprofit Strategic Planning

Major differences in how organizations carry out the various steps and associated activities in the
strategic planning process are more of a matter of the size of the organization -- than its for-
profit/nonprofit status. Small nonprofits and small for-profits tend to conduct somewhat similar
planning activities that are different from those conducted in large organizations. On the other
hand, large nonprofits and large for-profits tend to conduct somewhat similar planning activities
that are different from those conducted in small organizations. (The focus of the planning
activities is often different between for-profits and nonprofits. Nonprofits tend to focus more on
matters of board development, fundraising and volunteer management. For-profits tend to focus
more on activities to maximize profit.)

Therefore, the reader is encouraged to review a variety of the materials linked from this page,
whether he or she is from a nonprofit or for-profit organization. Items below are marked as
"nonprofit" in case the reader still prefers to focus on information presented in the context of
nonprofit planning.

Benefits of Strategic Planning

Strategic planning serves a variety of purposes in organizations, including to:
 1. Clearly define the purpose of the organization and to establish realistic goals and
objectives consistent with that mission in a defined time frame within the organization’s
capacity for implementation.
2. Communicate those goals and objectives to the organization’s constituents.
3. Develop a sense of ownership of the plan.
4. Ensure the most effective use is made of the organization’s resources by focusing the
resources on the key priorities.
5. Provide a base from which progress can be measured and establish a mechanism for
informed change when needed.
6. Listen to everyone’s opinions in order to build consensus about where the organization
is going.
Other reasons include that strategic planning:
7. Provides clearer focus for the organization, thereby producing more efficiency and
effectiveness.
8. Bridges staff/employees and the board of directors (in the case of corporations).
9. Builds strong teams in the board and in the staff/employees (in the case of corporations).
10. Provides the glue that keeps the board members together (in the case of corporations).
11. Produces great satisfaction and meaning among planners, especially around a common
vision.
12. Increases productivity from increased efficiency and effectiveness.
13. Solves major problems in the organization.
When Should Strategic Planning Be Done?

The scheduling for the strategic planning process depends on the nature and needs of the
organization and the its immediate external environment. For example, planning should be
carried out frequently in an organization whose products and services are in an industry that is
changing rapidly. In this situation, planning might be carried out once or even twice a year and
done in a very comprehensive and detailed fashion (that is, with attention to mission, vision,
values, environmental scan, issues, goals, strategies, objectives, responsibilities, time lines,
budgets, etc). On the other hand, if the organization has been around for many years and is in a
fairly stable marketplace, then planning might be carried out once a year and only certain parts of
the planning process, for example, action planning (objectives, responsibilities, time lines,
budgets, etc) is updated each year. Consider the following guidelines:
1. Strategic planning should be done when an organization is just getting started. (The
strategic plan is usually part of an overall business plan, along with a marketing plan,
financial plan and operational/management plan.)
2. Strategic planning should also be done in preparation for a new major venture, for
example, developing a new department, division, major new product or line of products,
etc.
3. Strategic planning should also be conducted at least once a year in order to be ready for
the coming fiscal year (the financial management of an organization is usually based on
a year-to-year, or fiscal year, basis). In this case, strategic planning should be conducted
in time to identify the organizational goals to be achieved at least over the coming fiscal
year, resources needed to achieve those goals, and funded needed to obtain the
resources. These funds are included in budget planning for the coming fiscal year.
However, not all phases of strategic planning need be fully completed each year. The
full strategic planning process should be conducted at least once every three years. As
noted above, these activities should be conducted every year if the organization is
experiencing tremendous change.
 4. Each year, action plans should be updated.
5. Note that, during implementation of the plan, the progress of the implementation should
be reviewed at least on a quarterly basis by the board. Again, the frequency of review
depends on the extent of the rate of change in and around the organization.

Operations Strategy/What is operations strategy?/Operations strategy

What is operations strategy?

Companies and organizations making products and delivering, be it for profit or not for profit
rely on a handful of processes to get their products manufactured properly and delivered on time.
Each of the process acts as an operation for the company. To the company this is essential. That
is why managers find operations management more appealing. We begin this section by looking
at what operations actually are. Operations strategy is to provide an overall direction that serves
the framework for carrying out all the organization’s functions.

Understanding operations

Have you ever imagined a car without a gear or the steering wheel? Whilst, what remains of an
utmost importance to you is to drive the locomotive from one location to another for whatever
purpose you wish, but can only be made possible with each and every part of the car working
together and attached.

Organizations behave in the same manner. The company has an ultimate goal of delivering
goods to a client, but the processes of designing, manufacturing, analyzing and then finally being
delivered are the driving forces for the company's success. All these chunks of works processes
that collectively define a bigger purpose, the operations for that particular organization. The
more effective these processes or operations would be, the more productive and profitable the
business would be.

Note: Goods, the ultimate by-product of a company, can be a product or a service. Take for
instance, a car manufacturing company. For it, all operations would lead to the development and
enhancement of a car, a product, something physical. But, to a therapist, the service he/she
provides to their clients is the much needed result or required output.

1- Corporate Strategy: - Environmental scanning. - Developing core competencies. -

Developing core processes. - Global strategies.
2- Market Analysis.
3- Operations Strategy: - Operations strategy implements corporate strategy.

A formal definition
According to Slack and Lewis, operations strategy holds the following definition:
“Operations strategy is the total pattern of decisions which shape the long-term capabilities of
any type of operations and their contribution to the overall strategy, through the reconciliation of
market requirements with operations resources.”

Operations strategy is the tool that helps to define the methods of producing goods or a service
offered to the customer.
Factors That Affect Planning in an Organization
Priorities

In most companies, the priority is generating revenue, and this priority can sometimes interfere
with the planning process of any project. For example, if you are in the process of planning a
large expansion project and your largest customer suddenly threatens to take their business to
your competitor, then you might have to shelve the expansion planning until the customer issue
is resolved. When you start the planning process for any project, you need to assign each of the
issues facing the company a priority rating. That priority rating will determine what issues will
sidetrack you from the planning of your project, and which issues can wait until the process is
complete.

Company Resources
Having an idea and developing a plan for your company can help your company to grow and
succeed, but if the company does not have the resources to make the plan come together, it can
stall progress. One of the first steps to any planning process should be an evaluation of the
resources necessary to complete the project, compared to the resources the company has
available. Some of the resources to consider are finances, personnel, space requirements, access
to materials and vendor relationships.

Forecasting

A company constantly should be forecasting to help prepare for changes in the marketplace.
Forecasting sales revenues, materials costs, personnel costs and overhead costs can help a
company plan for upcoming projects. Without accurate forecasting, it can be difficult to tell if
the plan has any chance of success, if the company has the capabilities to pull off the plan and if
the plan will help to strengthen the company's standing within the industry. For example, if your
forecasting for the cost of goods has changed due to a sudden increase in material costs, then that
can affect elements of your product roll-out plan, including projected profit and the long-term
commitment you might need to make to a supplier to try to get the lowest price possible.

Contingency Planning

To successfully plan, an organization needs to have a contingency plan in place. If the company
has decided to pursue a new product line, there needs to be a part of the plan that addresses the
possibility that the product line will fail. The reallocation of company resources, the acceptable
financial losses and the potential public relations problems that a failed product can cause all
need to be part of the organizational planning process from the beginning.

Analyzing the Business Environment

What Is Business Environment?

Meaning: - The term Business Environment is composed of two words ‘Business’ and
‘Environment’. In simple terms, the state in which a person remains busy is known as Business.
The word Business in its economic sense means human activities like production, extraction or
purchase or sales of goods that are performed for earning profits.

On the other hand, the word ‘Environment’ refers to the aspects of surroundings. Therefore,
Business Environment may be defined as a set of conditions – Social, Legal, Economical,
Political or Institutional that are uncontrollable in nature and affects the functioning of
organization. Business Environment has two components:

1. Internal Environment
2. External Environment

Internal Environment: It includes 5 Ms i.e. man, material, money,

machinery and management, usually within the control of business. Business can make changes
in these factors according to the change in the functioning of enterprise.

External Environment: Those factors which are beyond the control of business enterprise are
included in external environment. These factors are: Government and Legal factors, Geo-
Physical Factors, Political Factors, Socio-Cultural Factors, Demo-Graphical factors etc. It is of
two Types:
1. Micro/Operating Environment
2. Macro/General Environment

Micro/Operating Environment: The environment which is close to business and affects its
capacity to work is known as Micro or Operating Environment. It consists of Suppliers,
Customers, Market Intermediaries, Competitors and Public.

(1) Suppliers: – They are the persons who supply raw material and required components to the
company. They must be reliable and business must have multiple suppliers i.e. they should not
depend upon only one supplier.
(2) Customers: - Customers are regarded as the king of the market. Success of every business
depends upon the level of their customer’s satisfaction. Types of Customers:
(i) Wholesalers
(ii) Retailers
(iii) Industries
(iv) Government and Other Institutions
(v) Foreigners

(3) Market Intermediaries: - They work as a link between business and final consumers.
Types:-
(i) Middleman
(ii) Marketing Agencies
(iii) Financial Intermediaries
(iv) Physical Intermediaries

(4) Competitors: - Every move of the competitors affects the business. Business has to adjust
itself according to the strategies of the Competitors.

(5) Public: - Any group who has actual interest in business enterprise is termed as public e.g.
media and local public. They may be the users or non-users of the product.

Macro/General Environment: – It includes factors that create opportunities and threats to

business units. Following are the elements of Macro Environment:

(1) Economic Environment: - It is very complex and dynamic in nature that keeps on changing
with the change in policies or political situations. It has three elements:
(i) Economic Conditions of Public
(ii) Economic Policies of the country
(iii)Economic System
(iv) Other Economic Factors: – Infrastructural Facilities, Banking, Insurance companies, money
markets, capital markets etc.
(2) Non-Economic Environment: - Following are included in non-economic environment:-
(i) PoliticalEnvironment: - It affects different business units extensively. Components:
(a) Political Belief of Government
(b) Political Strength of the Country
(c) Relation with other countries
(d) Defense and Military Policies
(e) Centre State Relationship in the Country
(f) Thinking Opposition Parties towards Business Unit

(ii) Socio-CulturalEnvironment: - Influence exercised by social and cultural factors, not within
the control of business, is known as Socio-Cultural Environment. These factors include: attitude
of people to work, family system, caste system, religion, education, marriage etc.

(iii) TechnologicalEnvironment: - A systematic application of scientific knowledge to practical

task is known as technology. Every day there has been vast changes in products, services,
lifestyles and living conditions, these changes must be analyzed by every business unit and
should adapt these changes.

(iv) NaturalEnvironment: - It includes natural resources, weather, climatic conditions, port

facilities, topographical factors such as soil, sea, rivers, rainfall etc. Every business unit must
look for these factors before choosing the location for their business.

(v) DemographicEnvironment :- It is a study of perspective of population i.e. its size, standard

of living, growth rate, age-sex composition, family size, income level (upper level, middle level
and lower level), education level etc. Every business unit must see these features of population
and recognize their various needs and produce accordingly.

(vi) InternationalEnvironment: - It is particularly important for industries directly depending

on import or exports. The factors that affect the business are: Globalisation, Liberalisation,
foreign business policies, cultural exchange.
Characteristics:-

1. Business environment is compound in nature.

2. Business environment is constantly changing process.
3. Business environment is different for different business units.
4. It has both long term and short term impact.
5. Unlimited influence of external environment factors.
6. It is very uncertain.
7. Inter-related components.
8. It includes both internal and external environment.

Strategic choice

Strategic choice is a systemic theory of strategy. This theory is built on a notion of interaction in
which organizations adapt to their environment in a self-regulating, negative-feedback
(cybernetic) manner so as to achieve their goals. The dynamics, or pattern of movement over
time, are those of movement to states of stable equilibrium. Prediction is not seen as problematic.
The analysis is primarily at the macro level of the organization in which cause and effect are
related to each other in a linear manner. Micro-diversity receives little attention and interaction is
assumed to be uniform and harmonious.

Strategic Choice Approach

The Strategic Choice Approach is used in face to face workshops of a decision making group.

Strategic choice is viewed as an ongoing process in which the planned management of

uncertainty plays a crucial role.
The Strategic Choice Approach:
1. Focuses on decisions to be made in a particular planning situation, whatever their
timescale and whatever their substance.
 2. Highlights the subtle judgements involved in agreeing how to handle the uncertainties
which surround the decision to be addressed - whether these be technical, political or
procedural.
3. The approach is an incremental one, rather than one which looks towards an end product
of a comprehensive strategy at some future point in time. This principle is expressed
through a framework known as a `commitment package'. In this, an explicit balance is
agreed between decisions to be made now and those to be left open until specified time
horizons in the future.
4. The approach is interactive, in the sense that it is designed not for use by experts in a
backroom setting, but as a framework for communication and collaboration between
people with different backgrounds and skills.
The Essential Framework.
There are three key elements of analysis which are used in structuring problems and working
towards decisions

 The Decision Area

 The Comparison Area
 The Uncertainty Area - divides into three broad categories
 o Uncertainties to do with the working environment
o Uncertainties to do with guiding values
o Uncertainties to do with related choices

There are four modes of strategic choice

 Shaping
 Designing
 Comparing
 Choosing

Software
The Strategic Choice Approach was originally developed using flip charts and wall space,
however, a software package called "Strategic Advisor" or "STRAD" for short was developed
and released in February 1991. The intention of this software package is to support individuals
and small groups in the more informal use of the approach.

Strategy Implementation
The selected strategy is implemented by means of programs, budgets, and procedures.
Implementation involves organization of the firm's resources and motivation of the staff to
achieve objectives.

The way in which the strategy is implemented can have a significant impact on whether it will be
successful. In a large company, those who implement the strategy likely will be different people
from those who formulated it. For this reason, care must be taken to communicate the strategy
and the reasoning behind it. Otherwise, the implementation might not succeed if the strategy is
misunderstood or if lower-level managers resist its implementation because they do not
understand why the particular strategy was selected.

The Implementation Process of Strategic Plans

A strategic plan is of little use to an organization without a means of putting it into place. In fact,
implementation is an essential part of the strategic planning process, and organizations that
develop strategic plans must expect to include a process for applying the plan. The specific
implementation process can vary from organization to organization, dependent largely on the
details of the actual strategic plan, but some basic steps can assist in the process and ensure that
implementation is successful and the strategic plan is effective.

Step 1
Evaluate the strategic plan. The first step in the implementation process is to step back and make
sure that you know what the strategic plan is. Review it carefully, and highlight any elements of
the plan that might be especially challenging. Recognize any parts of the plan that might be
unrealistic or excessive in cost, either of time or money. Highlight these, and be sure to keep
them in mind as you begin implementing the strategic plan. Keep back-up ideas in mind in case
the original plan fails.

Step 2
Create a vision for implementing the strategic plan. This vision might be a series of goals to be
reached, step by step, or an outline of items that need to be completed. Be sure to let everyone
know what the end result should be and why it is important. Establish a clear image of what the
strategic plan is intended to accomplish.

Step 3
Select team members to help you implement the strategic plan. Make sure you have a team that
“has your back,” so to speak, and understands the purpose of the plan and the steps involved in
implementing it. Establish a team leader, if other than yourself, who can encourage the team and
field questions or address problems as they arise.

Step 4
Schedule meetings to discuss progress reports. Present the list of goals or objectives, and let the
strategic planning team know what has been accomplished. Whether the implementation is on
schedule, ahead of schedule, or behind schedule, assess the current schedule regularly to discuss
any changes that need to be made. Establish a rewards system that recognizes success throughout
the process of implementation.

Step 5
Involve the upper management where appropriate. Keep the organization’s executives informed
on what is happening, and provide progress reports on the implementation of the plan. Letting an
organization’s management know about the progress of implementation makes them a part of the
process, and, should problems arise, the management will be better able to address concerns or
potential changes.

Evaluation & Control

The implementation of the strategy must be monitored and adjustments made as needed.
Evaluation and control consists of the following steps:
1. Define parameters to be measured
2. Define target values for those parameters
3. Perform measurements
 4. Compare measured results to the pre-defined standard
5. Make necessary changes

Communicate with Your Stakeholders

Stakeholder is a person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization.

Stakeholders
Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives and policies.
Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its
agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business
draws its resources.

Not all stakeholders are equal. A company's customers are entitled to fair trading practices but
they are not entitled to the same consideration as the company's employees.

An example of a negative impact on stakeholders is when a company needs to cut costs and
plans a round of layoffs. This negatively affects the community of workers in the area and
therefore the local economy. Someone owning shares in an business such as Microsoft is
positively affected, for example, when the company releases a new device and sees their profit
and therefore stock price rise.

7 Ways to Communicate with Your Stakeholders

The most important element in stakeholder communications is identifying the target audience.
Be deliberate and seek out input from all known groups to find the unknown groups. It can be
tough when too late in the project a critical person or group is identified that has not received any
of the communication through course of project and has valuable links that need to be addressed.
So make sure you avoid this scenario and take all the steps early to create a document with all
stakeholders you need to manage communication with. Once you have that the ways below can
help you keep communication active, frequent and ongoing collaboration so there is strong
support for you project.
Formal Methods for Communicating– If they don’t exist already, create them. Make occasions
when info should be presented.

1. Meetings – One of the most common ways to communicate. They can vary from only 1
person to thousands based on message and audience appropriate. It is up to you to
maximize every minute of the time spent to have dialogue. Make sure it is a dialogue and
not a monologue. It is the best way as you have the verbal and non verbal cues that
enhance the communication and avoid misinterpretation.

2. Conference Calls– These days this is the most common as it does not require the time
and expense of travel. The dialogue can take place though its dependant on voice
intonation and clarity of the verbal message. They only require cost of phone call and
there are many paid and free services that will facilitate use of a conference call line for
many people to dial into. Its also a common way for classes to be recorded and replayed
when its convenient for you.

3. Newsletters/ Email/ Posters – This strategy is one way communication and utilizes
emailed updates, hard copy brochures, posters, newsletters mailed or emailed. One of the
weaknesses is that messages are delivered and you cannot guage if they were read and
understood, deleted as sometimes there is no feedback. That immediate feedback is
valuable for strengthening your message and making sure impacts and feedback are
quickly received.

4. Informal Methods – It is important to not only rely on formal channels but to utilize
informal communication as well. The impromptu channels are often more information
rich and critical for relationship building.

5. Hallway Conversations, Bathroom conversations – These meetings are great for one
on one communication, but also be clear and do not establish false expectations with
casual comments dropped.
 6. Lunch Meetings, Drink at the bar after work – These casual environments can be
great for connecting, getting feedback, ideas, and work to build support

7. Sporting events – tennis, golf, etc are an easy forum to get the input on what support
exists, feedback on ideas, brainstorming to strengthen your communication and build
stakeholder support

8. Voice mail – this is often underutilized since email is so common but still shown to be
more often listened to than an email will be read. By using voice intonation for
excitement, urgency, etc it can be more compelling. This can be a solo voice mail, a voice
mail broadcast to large team or you could pursue use of automated calling to get the word
out depending on the size of audience

Project Communication Plans

It’s not enough to just have a plan. It is critical to seek to understand what your stakeholders
desire both spoken and unspoken. The expectations must be carefully managed from beginning
to end. Every team and project varies in its rate of change, so pick the most advantageous
communication channel, frequency and make sure its effective. Just as having the plan is
important, monitoring its effectiveness, adding and canceling supplemental ways of
communicating will be required.

Communication is a constant, error on the side of over communicating as there are always people
that didn’t hear, understand or make connection when they heard it the first time.

Self-Check 1
  Answer the questions on the following questionnaire; provide the answer sheet to your
trainer.

 Check your answers by looking at the feedback sheets; ask for the assistance of the
trainer whenever necessary.

Satisfactory
Questions
Response
 The trainee should answer the following questions YES NO

Give short answer for the following questions

1. Explain the strategic planning models
2. Write the strategic plan process
3. Write at least five benefits of strategic plan

 The trainee’s underpinning knowledge was

[ ] Satisfactory [ ] Not satisfactory

 Feedback to Trainee:

Trainee’s Signature: Date:

Instructor’s Signature: Date:
 Answer Key

1.
i. Goals-based planning is probably the most common and starts with focus
on the organization's mission (and vision and/or values), goals to work
toward the mission, strategies to achieve the goals, and action planning
(who will do what and by when).
ii. Issues-based strategic planning often starts by examining issues facing
the organization, strategies to address those issues and action plans.
iii. Organic strategic planning might start by articulating the organization's
vision and values, and then action plans to achieve the vision while
adhering to those values. Some planners prefer a particular approach to
planning, eg, appreciative inquiry.

2.
i. Mission and objectives to initiate the goal or mission and easily
understand.
 ii. Environmental scanning involves External environment such as PEST
analysis, internal analysis such as SWOT analysis, task analysis such as
porter five forces
iii. Strategy formulation in these company should realize the strengths to
match its opportunities and also known the weakness and external threats.
iv. Strategy implementation is to implement the mission by means of
programs, budgets and procedures firm resources and motivation of the
staff to achieve objectives.
v. Evaluation and control and evaluated the strategy after implementing.
3.
i. Clearly define the purpose of the organization and to establish realistic
goals and objectives consistent with that mission in a defined time frame
within the organization’s capacity for implementation.
ii. Communicate those goals and objectives to the organization’s
constituents.
iii. Develop a sense of ownership of the plan.
iv. Ensure the most effective use is made of the organization’s resources by
focusing the resources on the key priorities.
v. Provide a base from which progress can be measured and establish a
mechanism for informed change when needed.
vi. Listen to everyone’s opinions in order to build consensus about where the
organization is going.
 Performance Criteria

Satisfactory
Assessment Criteria
Response
The trainee will be assessed through the following criteria: YES NO
 Answered all the interview questions clearly

 Performed all activities accordingly

 Followed all instructions in the activities

Trainees’ Performance is:

[ ] Satisfactory [ ] Not Satisfactory
Feedback to Trainee:

Trainee’s Signature: Date:

Instructor’s Signature: Date: